The practice of making media print zines began in the late 1960s via science fiction fandom where fanzines had been a popular fan activity since the 1930s. However, the content of science fiction zines is very different, consisting mostly of non-fiction and discussion about a variety of fannish topics, whereas media fanzines include, or consist solely of, fanfiction, art, poetry, as well as discussion, usually about television shows, films, and books. 

For other media fanzines uploaded to the Internet Archive that are not part of our collection see: https://archive.org/details/fav-fanzine_collection_archivist

Fans created these print zines in their basements, garages, dining rooms, sometimes alone, but often enlisting other fans to assist in typing, proofreading, collating, and mailing zines to other fans. There are many descriptions by zine producers of recalcitrant mimeographs, fannish politics, cranky typewriters, shared machinery, late nights, and crazy times as the production of zines was a mighty labor of love, as well as exasperation. 

Some zines were the creation of a single fan, but most zines were collaborations among several or many fans who submitted material for sharing. Almost all media print zines had very small print runs, and they were sold "at cost," meaning it was understood that there was no profit being made; at the very least, fans hoped not to lose money on creating a zine. 

Some reasons fans created and consumed fanzines:

• for joy and satisfaction, for communicating and for sharing  

• to fill in gaps in canon narratives and to fix what they consider other unsatisfactory errors or oversights in canon and characterization

• as a way to include things they wish could be included but can't be shown due to censorship or societal norms, such as  sexual and other intimate relationships and gender exploration 

• as a response to other fanworks

• to interact with other fans

• as a "training ground" for professional writing

• as a way of taking back power, of refusing to be passive consumers  

The arrival and accessibility of the internet, among other things, led to a profound and lasting decline in print zine production; fans were no longer dependent upon the postal service to deliver their zines and correspondence to other fans. This was something that was both a gain, and a loss, to some fannish communication, culture, and customs.

To learn more about the history of media fanzines visit Fanlore: https://fanlore.org/wiki/Zine

All items in this uploaded to the collection by the Fanzine Collection Archivist are either in the public domain or have been uploaded with the publisher's permission.   If any contributors object to their stories, poetry, or artwork being made available in this way, they can be removed from the zines upon request. Please contact the respective publisher directly or the Fanzine Collection Archivist at:  fanzine.archive.ia@gmail.com  

NOTE: The Fanzine Collection Archivist does not control what fanzines can be added to this collection and makes no representations about (1) fanzines uploaded by others or (2) fanzines that have been added by others to this collection.